The Christian Harmony songbook is an oblong shape note tune book originally published by William Walker of South Carolina in 1866 that is written using shaped musical note heads instead of round notes. Shape notes are a uniquely American invention from about 1798. Singing school instructors of the time found that by pairing specially shape note heads with a syllable matching the shape, students were able to master singing and sight reading much more quickly. This style of singing is often called "shape note singing" because the musical notation uses these shape note heads. Typically participants first sing the shapes to learn the tune, and then sing the lyrics.
Shape note singing originated in New England, and spread south and west. The "better music" of European origin displaced shape note singing in the Northeast by the mid 1800s. But many communities, especially in the South, preserved the shape note a cappella singing tradition. Typically singers gathered once a year on the same weekend for an all day singing, or for a singing convention that spanned several days. This event was a special occasion attended by hundreds of singers from the community and surrounding areas.
This singing tradition continues, and many of the same practices found in early singing schools and singings have been preserved. Singers still gather together for annual singings and conventions on weekends, and for local monthly singings on weeknights. Singers often travel long distances to attend weekend singings that are organized by local volunteers, usually singers themselves. There are no tryouts or auditions to become part of a singing event – this is a community gathering that welcomes everyone. Singers sit in a hollow square with the four parts facing each other. Visitors and new singers are welcome to join in (loaner books are available), or participate as listeners. Although most of the songs are religious in nature, the tradition is not associated with any particular religious denomination and singers from many religions or no religion regularly attend.
We will sing from The Christian Harmony, 2010 Edition. This unified edition combines William Walker's 1873 revision with the later 1958 / 1992 Deason-Parris revision such that all songs from both books are included. We sing from 10:00 am to noon, have shared "dinner on the grounds," and then sing from 1:00 pm until approximately 2:45 pm.
Web sites for more information:
• Upcoming Christian Harmony singings, directions, & Christian Harmony information
• Christian Harmony Music Company, Inc. with book ordering information & sound files
• Camp DoReMi recordings (see 2015 and 2014)
• London UK Christian Harmony & Sacred Harp recordings
• The most comprehensive online site for all things shape note
• Sacred Harp recordings
Saturday and Sunday, December 1 and 2, 2018.
The public is encouraged to join the singing from 10:00 to 12:00 and from 1:00 to 2:45 each day and to join the "dinner on the grounds" each day at 12:00.
A comprehensive minutes of this event can be found Here in the 2018 Minutes pages of christianharmony.org.
Parking on site is limited. Please do not park on the other side of the road in front of the venue. Overflow parking is across the street in the church parking lot.
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Photos from earlier events
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Photos from the 2018 No. 3 Railroad Street Event
Photos by Glenn Galau © 2018. Visit the Photo Gallery for the complete set of images.
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